Women’s wrestling championships coming to Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — The National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships is coming to Cedar Rapids in 2023.

The NCWWC tournament — an annual event for all NCAA-affiliated programs — will be held March 3-4, 2023 at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse with tournaments also scheduled in 2024 and ’25.

The Cedar Rapids Tourism Office made the announcement Tuesday.

“Cedar Rapids is excited to welcome the top collegiate women’s wrestlers from across the country ...” Jay Fanta, director of sports tourism, said in a news release. “The Alliant Energy PowerHouse has hosted several national championship wrestling events in the past and will undoubtedly provide a top-tier experience for the athletes and visitors.”

The University of Iowa and Cornell College recently added women’s wrestling and the NCAA recognizes it as an “emerging sport in all three divisions (I, II and III).” This tournament is “being hosted by a coalition of national wrestling organizations on behalf of the NCAA programs and will be held until women’s wrestling achieves official championship status within the NCAA,” according to the release.

The estimated annual economic impact to the Cedar Rapids community is $642,450, with a three-year total nearing $2 million. The NCWWC was previously hosted by Adrian College in Michigan in 2020 and 2022 and by Tiffin University in Ohio in 2021.

McKendree University, a Division III program located in Lebanon, Ill., won the last three NCWWC team titles.

“We did an informal look for a great city to host the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships,” says M

“There is no better place than Iowa for wrestling, both for men and women,” Michael Duffy, Adrian College athletics director and chair of the NCWWC committee, said in the release. “... This is a great venue and a great host community.

“The championships got too big to host on campus, and we want to take it to a higher level.”